Where to Find Up-to-Date Source Code for MinGW Packages

In addition to sources maintained directly, and exclusively by ourselves, the MinGW Project[6] makes use of a number of upstream sources, to deliver the package set commonly seen as defining a MinGW[6] installation. This page explains where to find the most up-to-date source code for MinGW[6] packages.

mingwrt and w32api

These two packages are the primary defining components of MinGW[6]; fundamentally, it is this pair of packages which distinguishes MinGW[6] from any other implementation of the GNU Compiler Collection[7].

Primary responsibility for these two packages is undertaken by the MinGW Project[6]; however, the package code is shared by ourselves and Cygwin[8], and the official CVS repositories are kindly hosted by Cygwin[8]; they may be browsed at:--

mingwrt[9]: for the MinGW[6] C runtime library, (formerly known as mingw-runtime).

Since these two packages are primarily the responsibility of the MinGW Project[6], patches should be referred to the MinGW PatchTracker[11]. Anonymous check out of working copies of the source repositories is available, using

export CVSROOT
CVSROOT=:pserver:anoncvs@cygwin.com:/cvs/src
cvs login

(or whatever equivalent sequence of commands is appropriate for your shell), with password anoncvs, then for mingwrt[9]:

gcc and binutils

These two package suites sit at the heart of what the majority of users perceive as MinGW[6]. However, although several MinGW[6] Developers may actively participate in the development of these package suites, neither is actively maintained by the MinGW Project[6]. Users wishing to participate in development, or to submit patches in respect of either of these package suites, should consult the respective home sites:--

Of the other packages to be found on the MinGW Download Site[13], several are simply packaged for the convenience of MinGW[6] users, but are not actively maintained by the project. However, a significant number are either MinGW[6] specific sub-projects, or are forks from other projects for which a separately maintained MinGW[6] specific variant has been deemed appropriate.

For the former group, i.e. those packages with no formal MinGW[6] maintenance activity, the source code is always made available from the MinGW Download Site[13]. This is always the source for the actual version distributed by MinGW[6], and will often be, sometimes significantly, out of date with respect to the current version distributed by the owner project. Users seeking more up to date versions of such packages should refer to the home sites of the respective owner projects, for availability. The MinGW Project[6] is not interested in patches for such packages, but may be interested in a complete distribution of an updated version.

Conversely, for the latter group, i.e. those packages which areMinGW[6] (or MSYS[14]) specific, the MinGW Project[6]does maintain a local CVS repository[15]. Anonymous check out of source code, from this repository, is available using

(there is no password for anonymous login here; simply hit <ENTER> when prompted).

Note that, when accessing this MinGW[6] specific CVS repository, you should replace <modulename> by the actual name of the source code module in which you are interested. The following modules are available:--

catgets[17]: a GPL implementation of a POSIX conforming i18n API, for use with MinGW[6].

man[18]: an MS-Windows port of the UNIX `man' program; it is a native port, but may be found most useful when used with MSYS[14].

mingw-get[19]: a prototype for the new "synaptic-like" MinGW[6] package installer; the code base is currently in an embryonic state, and the maintainer is not yet accepting patches; however, comments on features are welcomed.

msys[20]: the sources for MSYS[14], together with the specialised development tools required to develop and maintain it.

N.B. Other modules may be observed at the CVSROOT[15]. In general, these should be considered deprecated and unmaintained. In particular, the runtime[28] and w32api[29] modules should not be used; they have been long ago obsoleted by the mingwrt[9] and w32api[10] repositories, hosted by Cygwin[8].